


the view from above

by lovelivesinthedream



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, EXO (Band), SM Entertainment | SMTown
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Multi, Slice of Life, gratuitous descriptions of Jongdae's body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 13:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4393481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelivesinthedream/pseuds/lovelivesinthedream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Changmin's crush is way more obvious than he'd like to believe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the view from above

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for smtheficathon writing fest on livejournal. I'm glad I was able to participate :)

The tiny restaurant is loud and warm with so many people packed inside. It’s not an unusual sight to see after a SMTown concert. While he’s sure the restaurant owners are going to make a killing on the obscene amount of food they’re all about to devour, Changmin can’t help but feel a little bad for the frazzled looking waitresses that are flitting around like headless chickens.

Victoria, Zhoumi and Henry are doing most of the ordering because Yixing is half asleep against Junmyeon’s shoulder, and Amber is joking around with the dork squad—Jongin, Taemin and Minho are honorary members today, it seems. He feels a pang of sympathy stab in his heart when he notices the dark circles under Junmyeon’s eyes; all Changmin’s dongsaengs look exhausted, but it’s been especially hard on Junmyeon lately. Even after a few years, the younger members still aren’t used to the constant strain on their bodies and all the emotional stresses of the job. Hell, to be honest, Changmin isn’t used to it either.

Yunho is to his left, eating chicken dumplings with one hand while swatting Sungmin away from his plate with the other hand. On his right is Amber who is busy trying to convince Baekhyun that toilets flush in the opposite direction in Australia. Taeyeon is smiling and playing along; she smiles even wider when Baekhyun pouts cutely. Changmin snorts and rolls his eyes when Chanyeol joins in loudly from the other side of Baekhyun. From down the table he can see Kyungsoo quietly eating his noodles and not bothering anyone, only nodding along to whatever Joy is saying to him. Such a good dongsaeng, Changmin thinks wistfully.

The peace is shattered with one glance across the table.

Jongdae and Kyuhyun are leaning together (closer than is necessary in Changmin’s humble opinion), and they are whispering between themselves. He stabs his pork a little more forcefully than he means to, and Yunho throws him a questioning look. Changmin shakes his head to indicate that he’s fine. Yunho pats his arm before turning back to fend off the scavenging members of Super Junior trying to steal from his plate. Ryeowook nearly loses an eye. Jinki smiles widely while he does the cringe worthy aigoo, and Yunho grudgingly shares.

When he glances up again, Kyuhyun is smiling at him in that creepy way that means he’s up to something. Changmin narrows his eyes, trying to convey that Kyuhyun needs to keep whatever stupid thing he’s about to say locked deep inside his body, or Changmin will have to end his life right here at the table. Kyuhyun is, understandably, not scared. Unfortunately, being friends with him for so long has allowed Kyuhyun to learn secrets about Changmin; in this particular case, he knows that Changmin talks a big game, but he couldn’t even hurt a fly. He’s just a big ol’ softie, deep down. Damn his kind and gentle heart.

Kyuhyun smirks victoriously and reaches up in an overly deliberate manner to brush through Jongdae’s hair. “There. Now we can all see your handsome face.”

“Don’t be cheesy, hyung,” Jongdae whines in that adorable way that makes Changmin want to bundle him up in blankets and cuddle him close for hours.

“Come on, Jongdae-yah, I’m being serious. Let’s get a second opinion if you won’t believe me,” Kyuhyun says. His eyes glitter mischievously as he meets Changmin’s glare across the table. “What do you think, hyung? Isn’t Jongdae very handsome?”

Changmin is not a violent person, but at this moment he’s extremely tempted to kick Kyuhyun in his stupid, smug face. Aren’t they supposed to be friends? Do friends do such terrible things to each other?

Regardless, Jongdae is waiting, watching Changmin expectantly. He has no choice but to answer. The problem is, though, that the word handsome does not do Jongdae justice. It’s laughably inadequate.

There’s not a single word in any language that can properly describe Kim Jongdae’s perfect cheekbones, smooth jaw line, or the gentle curve and swell of his lips. His ebony eyelashes that fan across his rose-tinted cheeks. The perpetual sparkle of amusement in his deep brown eyes. The way his dark hair is sweat-dampened and pushed off his forehead, begging for hands to run through it and dishevel it even more. Even his goddamn cute ears. His beautiful neck that Changmin has fantasized about marking up with heated kisses while watching Jongdae throw his head back and laugh or belt out those amazing vocals. Which has always led to thoughts of how loud Jongdae would probably be in bed, and how much Changmin would like to tear him apart, break him down with pleasure, until he has learned all of the noises Jongdae can make.

And don’t even get him started on all that magnificence going on under Jongdae’s clothes. His head gets a little bit fuzzy just thinking about it.

“Hyung?” Jongdae asks, interrupting Changmin’s lust induced haze. He nearly falls out of his seat when he realizes he’s been silently staring at Jongdae for the last four minutes.

He manfully ignores the way his cheeks are burning and stands on shaking legs. “I, uh, I need to use the bathroom,” he mutters, power walking away. It’s not running, no matter what Siwon’s knowing grin might otherwise imply.

The bathroom is blissfully empty. That means nobody is there to watch him berate himself for being an obvious, love struck idiot in the mirror. His reflection doesn’t disagree with the assessment. Which, huh. Changmin has known for awhile that he’s attracted to Jongdae because he’d have to be blind and deaf not to be. But he hadn’t realized just how serious those feelings were. Love seems kind of huge.

Damn.

The water he throws on his face doesn’t cool down his heated skin. Honestly, it only manages to make it look like he tried to drown himself or something. His hair is plastered to his forehead, and the collar of his shirt is soaked. He might have been a little enthusiastic.

When he’s stalled as long as he thinks he can get away with, he takes a deep breath and forces himself to walk back out to his doom. It’ll be fine. They’ve probably forgotten all about it, he tries to convince himself. Except Kyuhyun never lets anything embarrassing go, and Changmin is 100% not going to be able to live this down.

“Oh, shit, no,” he groans out in agony as he arrives at his seat. Red alert! Sound the alarm! Call in the time of his death.

Jongdae has Changmin’s phone in his hand. He’s looking down at the black screen with a small smile on his lips. His perfect fingers are cradling the absolute proof of Changmin’s idiocy. There’s no way out of this alive. Jongdae definitely knows now.

There’s evidence of Changmin’s ridiculous crush all over that stupid phone. His background is a picture of Jongdae sleepily rubbing his eyes at the end of a concert, a contented curl to his lips, eyelashes splayed across sculpted cheekbones, and confetti falling in the background. It’s the cutest thing Changmin’s ever seen, and it always makes him smile when he sees it, no matter how terrible a day he’s had.

As if that isn’t bad enough, he’s pretty sure the last thing in his search history is the infamous ’Chen’s wardrobe malfunction’ because he is maybe, a little bit, turned on by the way Jongdae accidently ripped his shirt open. But, perhaps, most condemning of all is the Kitten folder in the gallery of his phone, compiled of at least a hundred fansite pictures of Jongdae candidly being cute, sexy or endearing.

He’s nearly breathless with fear. It’s dumb because he’s stood on stage in front of thousands of people. He’s been on television shows where he’s made an absolute fool of himself. Changmin is a confident person, but he feels exposed and raw as the room roars with the noise of all his friends and co-workers, and Jongdae sits in the center of that chaos with Changmin’s heart in his hands. That one time he tried to hit on Victoria before she shot him down isn’t even as terrifying as this. What if Jongdae thinks it’s gross? Even worse, what if Jongdae laughs at him?

“Oh, hey,” Minseok speaks up, catching a hold of Changmin’s clenched fist. “Are you feeling okay?” There’s genuine concern in his voice; it eases his fears a little bit. Minseok, like Yunho, has always had a calming presence.

“I’m fine,” he chokes back in an uneven voice.

Jongdae’s head shoots up. He’s grinning in a friendly way, slightly playful just like he normally is. Kyuhyun isn’t gloating or laughing evilly. Changmin doesn’t know what to make of this situation. Did Jongdae see his phone or not? A bud of hope unfurls in his chest. There’s no way Kyuhyun would be able to keep quiet if Jongdae had seen anything.

His hope blossoms when Jongdae’s smile grows warm and wide. “Here you go, hyung. Minseok-hyung said you wouldn’t mind if I used it to look something up, but I didn’t know the password to unlock it.” He hands the phone back across the table, and Changmin definitely does not swoon when their fingers brush. Well, not a lot at least.

He’s almost faint with relief, and the rest of the evening is much more enjoyable when his incriminating phone is safely tucked away in his pocket. Dinner is a late affair that lasts into the wee hours of the morning, but the next few days is the only time a lot of them will get off for a few weeks which means they’ll be able to sleep as long as they want. For now, they’ll finally relax and eat without fear of ruining their diets.

*****

“Hey!” Eunhyuk exclaims, nearly falling off the exercise bike when the towel hits his face. “What the hell was that for?”

Minseok smiles crookedly and shakes his head, not repentant at all. “You were drooling again.”

“Can you blame me? Look at all the glorious bouncing going on over there!” Eunhyuk hisses, nodding in a very non-discrete way toward the row of treadmills lined up directly across from them. “I’ve found heaven, and it’s trying to escape from Sunny’s sports bra.”

Soojung chooses that moment to look up from the magazine she’s flipping through as she waits to use a stationary bike. She catches Eunhyuk making creepy grabby hands and throws her empty water bottle at him. It bounces off his head and lands in Changmin’s lap before falling to the floor with a clatter.

“Shit! Why do you people keep attacking me?” Eunhyuk groans, rubbing his sore skull. Soojung stands with her hands on her hips, glaring with eyes so sharp that even Kyuhyun has to look away.

“You’re gross. Quit being a pig or else.”

He glances down and then up from under his eyelashes, one leg hanging off the bike pedal in a way that’s probably supposed to be cool--it just makes him look like he’s about to fall over sideways. “Or else what?”

Soojung’s glare clears as a sudden smile brightens her face. Changmin cringes. That look never means anything good, and Eunhyuk is a fool for messing with fire.

“Stop being a pervert,” she says in a sweet-as-sugar voice, “or else I’ll make that bike seat become permanently attached to your colon.”

Eunhyuk flails his arms in disbelief like a baby bird leaping from the nest for the first time. Changmin doesn’t need to be a fortune teller to know that he’s going to crash and splat like one too. Soojung is vicious when she’s putting obnoxious guys in their place.

“I just love threats of bodily harm first thing in the morning,” Jongdae chuckles as he saunters into the room. His entrances are always loud and attention grabbing. It’s not Changmin’s fault that his eyes are instantly drawn to the source of the noise; it’s human nature! Even Key looks up from filing his nails in the back corner of the room (which has the best vantage point to observe and make fun of everyone) long enough to nod a greeting to Jongdae. KEY!

Changmin cannot be expected to withstand Jongdae’s magnetic charms if even Key isn’t completely immune. It’s a scientific fact.

He’s wearing that one stupid faded red shirt that has the sleeves cut off and shows rude flashes of skin when he moves. “I would probably threaten him with something else, though. You know Donghae-hyung is the only one allowed to shove things in Eunhyuk-hyung’s ass,” Jongdae says with a mischievous grin as he high-fives Soojung amidst Eunhyuk’s loud protests—and there! That is definitely the dark edge of Kim Jongdae’s nipple!

Not that Changmin notices or anything.

Changmin chokes on his thirst until Minseok pats him on the back with a knowing smirk. Honestly, he’s lucky he’s Changmin’s favorite dongsaeng, or there would be hell to pay for that smug face. Instead, he merely scowls and gets up off the bike.

“Wow! Thanks, hyung!” Jongdae grins cheekily as he throws his leg over the seat and straddles the machine. He leans forward to hold the handle bars in his hands, and it makes his shirt fall away from his chest. Changmin is standing to the side with the unfortunate perfect view of Jongdae’s chest and abs through the small gap in the fabric. “It’s so nice of you to let me use your bike!”

He’s smiling with his mouth closed, and Changmin has seen this smile a million times, but it’s still overwhelming—especially up close. At least when he sees Jongdae’s lips curled up at the corners, all cute and kittenish in pictures, he can delude himself into believing it’s all photo-shopped. No person in all reality can have such an adorable smile, right? It’s just not possible for mere mortals. And yet...

Kim Jongdae is 100% real, and his lips really do pull up at the corners like a kitten.

Changmin should be immune to it by now since he sees Jongdae all the time, but as Jongdae’s small tongue licks the edge of his bottom lip and his hands move back and forth on the handle bars—

Why does this all seem so sexual now?!

Minseok coughs and elbows him in the ribs (or in the hip since Minseok is such a goddamn mushroom, and Changmin isn’t in the mood to be lenient with the height jokes).

Changmin frowns, his cheeks heating up in a completely horrifying way, as he nods in acknowledgement of Minseok’s pointed look and tries to silently escape. His tongue has been swallowed, taking up a new residence somewhere near his traitorous heart and ignorant libido. It’s a lovely community full of disloyal body parts.

Speaking of disloyal, Minseok catches the back of his shirt before he can leave. He’s smirking again (or still, the bastard). “Hyung, why are you in such a hurry? Wait awhile and we’ll all shower together.”

“I will not be attending that sausage fest, but thanks,” Eunhyuk cuts in with a sneer. He hops off his bike and drapes a towel over his bony shoulders like a handsome protagonist in a drama. Nobody is impressed. He’s lucky Donghae’s not here to see this, or he’d probably be sleeping on the couch for a month. “Might try to sneak over to the ladies’ locker room. I think Hyoyeon just went in—Ouch! Jesus, quit it already!” he wheezes when Soojung viciously kicks him in the shin.

She flips her hair over her shoulder while simultaneously flipping Eunhyuk off. Kyuhyun nearly topples over the side of his bike as he laughs. She sends a wink his way, and Kyuhyun turns pink. Changmin does his best not to groan because he’s going to have to hear about this moment replayed and analyzed from a thousand different angles when they get out of here.

Jongdae is smirking, but that’s basically his resting face, so Changmin can’t tell if he’s amused or not. Not that Changmin’s trying to learn what each delicate twitch of Jongdae’s lips means or anything. It’s a completely normal bro thing to know, that’s all. It’s definitely not because he’s in love.

“Anyway,” Minseok says exaggeratedly, drawing attention back to Changmin. “I think I’m going to hit the weight bench, and Kyuhyun-hyung needs to be my spotter. So can you go with Jongdae to the showers and make sure he gets back to the dorms alright?” He uses his tiny stature and innocent face to seem unassuming. Changmin is not fooled; he’s the one that taught Minseok how to use his cute looks to his advantage.

A perfectly reasoned protest is on the tip of his tongue when a sharp laugh streaks like lightning through the air. “I don’t need to be looked after, Minseokie-hyung. However, I don’t mind going with you,” Jongdae says as he directs his smile toward Changmin. “I can’t ever reach the shower head, so I end up leaving it on the hailstone setting. It’ll be nice to shower without being wounded for once.”

And abruptly the battle is lost. How can Changmin say no to that face?

“Sure.” He shrugs one shoulder nonchalantly like he isn’t internally freaking the fuck out. “I don’t mind, I guess.”

The walk to the locker-room is a bit of a blur. He briefly feels Minseok giving him an encouraging shove toward Jongdae’s retreating form, but he’s too busy trying not to stare at the way the black shorts are hanging low on Jongdae’s hips to do more than wave dazedly over his shoulder. Once inside the locker-room, his first instinct is to hide in the furthest corner away from his dongsaeng. That plan is shot to hell because Jongdae holds the door open for him, ushering him ahead, and then follows Changmin to the last row of benches between the tall rows of grey steel.

Changmin doesn’t even realize that his clean clothes are in his bag, safely tucked away from Kyuhyun’s pranking hands, locked in the second row on the other side of the room. He’s too distracted by the easy way Jongdae grins up at him, his sly smile disappearing for a moment as he peels his shirt up and off. When his thumbs toy at the edge of his shorts, Changmin finally realizes that he’s staring rather blatantly and with his lips parted open in silent shock.

He feels his face heat, and he’s sure he could probably pass as the distant cousin of a tomato right now, but before he can really begin to panic, Jongdae is hooking his thumbs under his shorts and underwear, sliding them down his thighs and calves until he’s completely naked. Changmin is not ashamed to say that he forgets how to breathe for a few moments.

“I’ll go turn the water on, so it can heat up for us.” Jongdae is still grinning, somehow both sly and innocent at once as he walks toward the shower stall. His ass is tiny but each cheek is perfectly round—practically handcrafted to fit in Changmin’s grip. With each step it bounces, and his mouth is suddenly very, very dry. Jongdae pauses at the end of the row of lockers and turns to glance back over his well toned shoulder. “Nobody wants a cold shower, right?”

“Erm, yeah,” Changmin stammers. Apparently, his vocabulary has deserted him in his time of need. “Definitely.” Jongdae throws his head back and laughs as he walks away. Changmin drags a hand through his hair angrily. What the hell is wrong with him?!

Just because he might, maybe, possibly, have a crush on Jongdae doesn’t mean he needs to act like an idiot. He’s Shim Changmin, TVXQ’s Max, an international superstar, and the resident heartthrob for hundreds of thousands of people. He is tall, charismatic, smart, athletic, talented, and while, he’s not exactly the nicest person ever, he’s still quite the catch. There’s no reason to get so stupid and hung up on Kim Jongdae.

Changmin nods to himself with newfound determination. He can do this. He can shower in the same room as his friend without popping any inappropriate boners, and if he does happen to, well he’s a young, confident and handsome guy that doesn’t need to explain his healthy sexuality to anyone else.

Yeah. Sure.

“Hyung! I’m ready for you!”

Holy shit. Changmin is not going to survive this. The cool air blows across his heated skin, making the thin layer of sweat dry and a shiver jolt down his spine. His clothes fall to the floor like the swing of a guillotine. There’s no way Jongdae isn’t going to notice the semi Changmin is sporting.

“Hey,” Jongdae says brightly. His eyes crinkle up when he smiles widely like that. It’s adorable, and Changmin feels himself fall just a little bit further. “What do you bench-press?” he asks with a flutter of his eyelashes as he reaches up and squeezes Changmin’s bicep. As Jongdae’s hand falls back down, it brushes against Changmin’s pectoral, and there’s not a person alive that can blame him for the squeak that he makes.

He steps away and tries to shield his erection with his hand while he changes the showerhead setting. “Uh,” he chokes and coughs to clear his throat. He really hopes his red cheeks can be blamed on the steam that’s fogging up the room. “Uh, I lift about—oooh,god…”

Jongdae is under the water, letting it cascade down his neck and over all the delicate planes of his chest and stomach. His eyelashes are dark and spiked against his sculpted cheekbones. His arms are deceptively large and lined with sturdy looking veins—the shirts he normally wears do his body no justice at all. His nipples are pebbled, a dusky pink that stands out against his tan skin. Water pools in his belly button before overflowing and traveling down along the thin trail of dark hair on his flat and taut navel.

Changmin groans and rips his eyes away when the water reaches dark, neatly trimmed curls.

“Do you want to take a picture?”

Changmin’s heart nearly stops in shock. “W-what?”

Jongdae pulls him closer on unsteady feet. His eyes are mesmerizing and fathomless, the curl of his lips more tempting than forbidden fruit. “You can add it to the Kitten folder on your phone.”

Changmin feels like his soul has just left his body and floated away in embarrassment. So he does the only logical thing that a man in his position can do. He lies. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh really?” Jongdae asks with a raise of his eyebrow. He begins tracing very distracting patterns on Changmin’s arm with his fingers. Sneaky bastard. “You don’t know anything about the gallery full of fansite pictures of me? Hmm… I suppose you don’t know about your interesting search history either. And the background on your phone is probably a mystery, too. My, my, hyung,” he says in a low, husky voice with a shake of his head. “That’s too bad. I was going to let you get a close-up.”

Changmin’s brain is basically completely off-line by now. He can’t comprehend what’s going on. His crush is naked and wet in front of him, touching him and saying world shifting things. Didn’t Jongdae say he didn’t know the phone’s password?!

“I don’t know the password, but Kyuhyun-hyung does,” Jongdae answers the question that Changmin didn’t even realize asking out loud. He’s honestly shocked into speechlessness. Is it possible he’s having a stroke? His fingertips do feel sort of numb.

Jongdae laughs softly and stands on his tiptoes, reaching up to cradle the back of Changmin’s neck and pull him close enough to kiss. It’s electric and frightening and thrilling, and Changmin feels himself smiling like an idiot, but he can’t stop. Jongdae’s lips are soft and his hands are rough, his body firm and hard in all the right places. It’s different than with a girl, not that he ever expected it not to be, but it’s also different than with a guy. Maybe it’s because Jongdae fits so perfectly against his chest and between his arms, or maybe it’s because Jongdae’s smile warms him up like sunshine. Probably, it’s because it’s Jongdae, and he’s always been unique and precious.

Before things can get too heated, Jongdae steps away, laughing with his head thrown back and the happy sound echoing around the shower stalls. “I’m not the kind of boy that puts out right away, hyung.” His cheeks are red, lips shiny and swollen, and he’s still all wet and sexy. It’s so distracting, but Changmin doesn’t miss the shy smile on Jongdae’s face. “You’ll have to at least take me out first.”

Changmin doesn’t know how he got to be this lucky, but he sends a silent prayer of thanks to whatever benign being granted him this chance. He even silently thanks Kyuhyun’s invasive brattiness for inadvertently helping to bring them to this point. Maybe he’ll put in a good word with Soojung for him.

But that is for another time. For now, he can only smile so wide that his face hurts, and place a soft kiss on Jongdae’s nose. “Why, Kim Jongdae, are you asking me on a date?” he teases playfully. Jongdae splutters, and then shoves Changmin under the spray of water. Changmin laughs and catches him, pulling him under too. He leans down, wrapping his arms around Jongdae’s shoulders and whispering in his ear. “I really like you, Jongdae.”

Jongdae tightens his own arms around Changmin’s waist and hides his face into Changmin’s neck in embarrassment. “I really like you, too.”


End file.
